ENERGY

Every component industry within the entire energy category must deal with three ongoing issues everyday — high temperatures, corrosive atmospheres, and the never-ending need for increased efficiency. Our products play critical roles in the development and manufacture of equipment and technologies that use high-performance alloys to meet these challenges.

The exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas are carried out in high-temperature, highly corrosive atmospheres. Liquid fuels including oil, gasoline and liquified natural gas are refined, transported and stored using pipelines, pumps, and tanks that must withstand these punishing conditions. Our products are put to use in all of these environments everyday.

A 2011 study by Forecast International titled The Market for Gas Turbine Electrical Power Generation includes a U.S. Department of Energy estimate that gas turbines will account for 40% of U.S. power generation by 2020. The study also concludes that gas turbine electrical power generation will grow at an annual rate exceeding 2.5-3.0 percent worldwide. These turbines, like their jet engine counterparts, operate under extremely high temperatures requiring a variety of components made from sophisticated alloys, which include our products in their composition.

Within the category of sustainable energy, storage in the form of rechargeable flow batteries will be a critical link in the industry’s continuing march toward the future.In concert with 2013 legislation requiring California's utilities to obtain 33 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by the end of 2020, the California Public Utilities Commission created the first mandate for utilities to create energy storage systems. Under the plan, the three investor-owned utilities in the state, PG&E, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric, must establish 1.3 gigawatts of energy storage by 2020. The mandate also establishes a target for communities and electric service providers to achieve electric energy storage capability equal to 1 percent of their annual 2020 peak load.

At Allied Metals Corporation, we are participating in this compelling green technology industry. In 2013, we launched our state-of- the-art electrolytic iron plant in Auburn Hills, Michigan that is currently the most advanced operation of its kind in the world. The very high-purity iron produced from this proprietary process is playing a key role in the development of the kind of energy storage systems needed to achieve these mandated goals.